The Tanaiste said last night that she was studying the "far-reaching implications" for future prosecutions arising from the Circuit Court decision to postpone indefinitely Mr Charles Haughey's trial on charges of obstructing the McCracken tribunal. Ms Harney faced fresh calls yesterday for her resignation over the controversy.
She said through a spokesman that she was "very surprised" at Judge Kevin Haugh's ruling. Her colleagues were studying the implications of the judgment for "the successful prosecution of high-profile individuals and for freedom of speech".
Asked about Opposition calls for her resignation, the Tanaiste's spokesman said: "The matter does not arise."
In his ruling on Monday Judge Haugh cited recent comments by Ms Harney and said that there was a real and substantial risk of Mr Haughey not being able to receive a fair trial at present. He said that Ms Harney had created a risk of further damage to Mr Haughey's character.
Ms Harney refused to directly answer questions on the controversy yesterday on her return from a conference in Warsaw. She entered the weekly Cabinet meeting through the Department of Agriculture to avoid the media. Earlier, her spokesman had said that she would speak to the media before the meeting.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, called on Ms Harney to resign following the court ruling. After the "debacle" of the last 30 days, he believed the Government should also step down and go to the country.
Pressed about his call for Ms Harney to resign, Mr Quinn denied that he was playing politics. He said her remarks in a newspaper interview had been "injudicious" and were designed to deflect attention from the Hugh O'Flaherty controversy.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, accused the Tanaiste of failing to be politically accountable for her role in the postponement of the Haughey trial. Mr Quinn and the Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, failed in an attempt to have the matter debated in the Dail on the grounds that it was an important issue of public interest requiring urgent attention
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said that the DPP, under the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1974, was completely independent in the discharge of his functions, and any action to be taken in the light of Monday's judgment was a matter for the DPP alone.
"It would be entirely wrong for any member of the Government to appear to attempt to influence him in this or in any other legal proceeding. The House knows that", Mr Ahern said.
The Progressive Democrat Minister of State, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said yesterday that there were wider implications for the judgment apart from the immediate case of Mr Haughey. In particular, there were serious implications in relation to the capacity of the State to prosecute by jury trial high-profile figures, especially political figures like Mr Haughey.
Ms O'Donnell conceded that the Tanaiste had been "unwise" in saying in the newspaper interview that Mr Haughey should be convicted and jailed.
"Even the Tanaiste at this stage would accept that it was unwise to say that, but that being the case, we have to move on. It is certainly true that the Tanaiste's comments exacerbated the prejudice, and that was a finding by the case," Ms O'Donnell added.
She said that the court ruling meant that Ms Harney had now effectively been "gagged".